Shifting Gears

 

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For A.B.

Chapter 1

“You still here?”

Grady Hart looked up at the sound of a voice in the doorway of his office. His sister's fiancé, Ranger Colt, stood there frowning.

Grady grinned. “Looks like I'm not the only one.”

Ranger jingled the keys in his hand. “Yeah, but I'm heading home.”

“I'll bet that's only because Kerri threatened to boot you out of the house if you didn't leave right this minute,” Grady countered.

“Fine. You got me.” Ranger shook his head, but he was no longer frowning. “I have a valid excuse, though. We put the tapered spacers in Lee's truck and I had to finish up with the specs so we can complete the testing on time. Luckily, your sister is a patient woman.”

They both burst out laughing at that. Kerri was a lot of great things, but patient definitely wasn't one of them. They ribbed her for it, but both men loved her immensely. Grady was glad his sister was with a guy who got her, and who happened to fit in so well with the rest of the family. Early last season, Kerri and Ranger had started out pretending to be engaged as part of a plan to strengthen her image in the press. But they'd ended up falling in love for real and now, just under a year after they first met, they were planning a wedding.

When Ranger had started shopping for the ring a couple of months ago so that he could propose to Kerri, Grady had gone along to help him. Grady wouldn't have guessed it was possible, but tooling around to look at a bunch of ladies' jewelry had brought him and Ranger even closer. In fact, it was during one of their excursions to a diamond broker that they had struck the deal that had changed Grady's life: As soon as Hart Racing was no longer in the red, Grady could leave and focus solely on his own business, like he'd always wanted to.

“Speaking of my sister, how's wedding planning going?” Grady asked.

Ranger groaned. “Not so great. Probably not a big surprise, but Kerri hates this kind of thing. Your mom wants a big wedding, though, and Kerri doesn't want to disappoint her. Not to mention that
my
dad and mom are also gunning for some big to-do. I'm the only kid and all.” He huffed. “I told them they should have gone all out on
their
wedding—either of their weddings, in fact—but I guess it's too late for that.”

Ranger's parents had divorced three decades before, but after Ranger had come to work at Hart Racing, his father had started flirting with and then dating his mother again, and they'd gotten remarried a few months ago.

Ranger shrugged. “Anyway. I gotta run. Will you be here much longer?”

“Yeah.” Grady nodded slowly. “I need to queue up some stuff to start printing.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the large 3-D printer that sat on the other side of the room.

Ranger's frown returned, and he stared at Grady in silence for a moment, worrying his fingers over his keys. That silence made Grady nervous. Ranger never hesitated to speak his mind, even if what he had to say wasn't pretty. So whatever was on his mind that was giving him pause had to be something that Ranger thought Grady
really
wouldn't want to hear.

“Just spit it out, Ranger,” he finally said, when the silence started getting too tense.

Ranger cracked a sheepish smile. “I'm that obvious, huh?” At Grady's dark look, he nodded. “All right, you got me. Look, it's not that I don't appreciate that you're still acting as crew chief for Hart Racing while you're starting up this new business of yours, but that wasn't our deal. I told you that you could leave as soon as we were profitable, and we reached that point a month ago when the Natural Light contract kicked in. You're gonna kill yourself if you keep up this pace. Fourteen hours a day, seven days a week is too much. I know I haven't found a replacement yet, but that's my problem now. Why are
you
bothering with Hart Racing anymore?”

Ranger looked at Grady expectantly, but Grady couldn't respond right away. The words had hit him hard, like he suspected they would. Maybe, if he'd been anyone else, the question would have been straightforward. No big deal.

But to him, it was everything.

When Grady finally replied, his voice was a little scratchy. “I put ten years into this team—”

“I know, and Hart wouldn't be as big of a success if it weren't for you,” Ranger told him, but Grady put up a hand.

“Just let me finish, okay?”

Ranger nodded tightly. “Sorry, man.”

“My family was—is still—my life. They always come first.
Always.
When my dad needed help back in high school, I helped because he was my dad, first and foremost. Not because I wanted to be in racing. When he asked me to stay on after college, I did that because Kerri had started in the Indy circuit and she wanted someone she could trust to guide her through the races. I put a lot of stock in that trust because she's my sister and I love her … even though she's a mule-headed pain in the ass sometimes.”

Ranger snorted, but didn't say anything.

“And when Dad died and Mom was grieving, I had two younger siblings to support and my dad's legacy to save. And I did it. I'm not proud of how I almost lost it completely, but I gave it my all because my family matters. So now I can't just walk away and leave y'all high and dry. Like you said, you don't have a replacement crew chief yet. You don't have anyone to assist you in managing the team. You're already overworked and Kerri needs you at home, not hanging around the office.”

Ranger opened his mouth, but Grady leveled a hard look on his future brother-in-law. “If you lie and deny it, I will tell my sister.”

Ranger closed his mouth.

Grady couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped, but he was serious when he added, “Yeah, the long days are tough. Of course they are. But I'm not about to quit until I feel like my family is secure. And that includes you, Ranger. So a little discomfort on my end for a month or two is nothing. Not compared to what we've been through in the past.”

He meant it. He wasn't a quitter.

But at the same time, Grady had already decided he wasn't going to waste one more second in going after the dream of having his own business that wasn't part of Hart Racing. As soon as Ranger had told him they were starting to turn profitable, he'd bought the printer and some design software he remembered using in college.

Sure, he didn't have any customers—or even a first product—yet, but he was close. Even though it meant working like a dog for a while, he couldn't see a better way to do things. And as soon as they found a replacement, he'd feel okay about leaving Hart Racing completely.

Ranger sighed. “Well, hell. I can't say I'm surprised. I knew the first time I met you that you were a dedicated bastard.” He grinned at Grady, who let out a bark of laughter. “I still don't think you should be working like this when the terms of our agreement have already been met, but I know who I'm dealing with. You Harts are nothing if not stubborn. Luckily, though, I just got off the phone with a guy who's coming in tomorrow to interview for the crew chief position.”

What?
Grady felt himself snap back a bit. Not because Ranger was interviewing people for the position, but because even a few months ago, scheduling an interview would have been Grady's job. He would have been in charge of screening the people who were going to be working so closely with his family—who would have the lives of his sister and brother in their hands. Ranger's announcement brought home the reality that it was no longer his responsibility.

Hey. Come on. Calm down.

They'd just been talking about how he was pulling double time until the position could be filled. He should be grateful someone was going to relieve him of the burden of extra work soon, and he was.

He really was.

But another part of him felt strange. Like this truly was the end of the man he used to be.

Of course, despite his dedication, that man hadn't been much good, anyway. He'd never loved racing cars like he loved building them. All the
parts
that went into high-performance machines—that was his true passion. He had to remember that.

Grady forced a smile to his face. “Hey, that's great. Do you need me to talk to him?”

“Yeah, that would be helpful. He'll be in around ten to meet the team.” Ranger shifted a bit. “It's, uh, it's Matt Fogerty.”

Fogerty?

Damn it. That guy was well-known for being an excellent crew chief … but also a total asshole. Getting along with others was not one of his strong suits. Fogerty wasn't someone Grady would have let get near his siblings or his crew, out of sheer overprotectiveness.

But Ranger was running the show now. Grady had to step back and have a little faith.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from raising a brow and sounding a bit disbelieving when he asked, “Fogerty?”

Ranger sighed. “I know. I've heard the stories, too. But he comes highly recommended, despite the unpleasant side of his reputation, and I think he can help us take Hart Racing to the next level.”

At least Ranger had the guts to look Grady in the eye when he said the last part, and Grady couldn't deny the truth. This past weekend, they'd barely squeaked in to a fifth-place finish only because another driver had made a critical mistake near the end of the race that had allowed Kerri to move up. Not because of any stellar coaching on Grady's part.

He'd never been the kind of crew chief that could bring the team to the Intercomm Cup series—the highest level in racing. Kerri was still in the Diamond series, which was the mid-level of stock racing, but she was ready to move up next season. They needed someone who could make that happen.

That someone wasn't Grady. It never would've been, either, even if he wasn't leaving Hart Racing. So again he swallowed his pride, hoping his belly wouldn't burst with everything he was sucking down, and simply nodded. “Okay. No problem. I'd like to meet Fogerty. But what about a team manager? Any progress on candidates for that position?”